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history chapter 1
key terms
Term | Definition |
---|---|
government: | : the institution through which a society makes and enforces public policies |
public policies: | all the things a government decides to do |
legislative power: | the power to make laws |
executive power: | the power to enforce and administer laws |
judicial power: | the power to interpret laws |
dictatorship: | : a government in which all power rests with an individual or small group |
democracy: | a government in which supreme authority rests with the people |
state: | a body of people, living in a defined territory, with a government that can make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority |
sovereign: | to have supreme and absolute power within a territory |
divine right: | the theory that governments gain their authority from the will of God |
autocracy: | government in which a single person holds all political power |
oligarchy: | : government in which a small, usually self-appointed group has the sole power to rule |
unitary government: | : a government in which all power belongs to one central agency |
federal government: | a government in which power is divided between one central and several local governments |
division of powers | the split of power between central and local governments |
confederation: | an alliance of independent states |
presidential government | a government with separate executive and legislative branches |
parliamentary government: | a government in which the executive branch is part of the legislative branch and subject to its control |
majority rule: | the principle that the will of the majority controls the actions of government |
compromise: | the process of blending and adjusting competing views and interests |
citizen: | one who holds certain rights and responsibilities within a state |
free enterprise system: | an economic system characterized by the private ownership of capital goods, private investment, and a competitive marketplace that determines success or failure |